Lady in Tweed
by Wathira
Summary: The story of Mrs. Macready and the three brieflymentioned maids in The Chronicles of Narnia: LWW before, during, and after the novel.
1. Chapter 1

The Macready Family

Abby Macready opened the front door of the cottage she shared with her husband and three daughters. The whole family shared one room with a fireplace at the far end for cooking and warmth. Her girls looked up at the sound of the door. On the only bed in the house lay their father, Mr. Macready, who did not move. Shrugging off her shawl and taking her kerchief off her head, Abbey hung them on hooks next to the door and went to kneel next to the bed.

"Abby," the sick man whispered in his delirium rather than to acknowledge her presence.

Even though she knew he could not hear her, she said in a comforting tone, "I have found a job, John, in the big house a few miles away."

John groaned in his sleep.

His wife continued. "Soon I shall earn enough money to buy medicine to make you well."

Silence. Except for John's raspy breathing.

Abbey pushed his damp hair out of his sweaty face and got up to face her daughters. Ivy sat on a three-legged stool next to the fire to tend it. Margaret was knitting in a chair in the corner quietly except for the click-clack of the needles. Betty knelt by the foot of the bed nervously biting her fingernails, a habit that her mother deplored and tried to get her to stop. Both of them were now too distraught to notice.

"Tomorrow I will start to work for Professor Kirke," Abby announced. "You will all have to take care of your father by yourselves while I am gone."

John Macready coughed two times.

"Mrs. McInnis next door has kindly said that she will help in any way she can and you only have to ask," continued Abby. "Go to bed now. Tomorrow will be a hard day for us all and we will need all the rest we can get."

Obediently, each girl put down what she was doing and prepared a place on the floor to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Work

The next day, Abby Macready woke before the sun and immediately stoked the coals in the fireplace that Ivy had banked the night before. When this was done, she rolled up her blanket and stored it in its place under the bed. Next, she poured cold rain water from a bucket outside into cups and stirred the last of the oatmeal into them. It was all they had but it would have to do for breakfast. Then she shook each of her daughters awake to eat while she drank hers and got ready for the first day of work.

When she was outside, the cold air made her draw her shawl closer about her as she set off down the road. In an hour, she had reached her destination and unlocked the side door reserved for staff with the key Professor Kirke had given her. Once inside, she at once went into the parlor and lit a fire in the grate. She was kept busy around the enormous house for the rest of the day. Finally, in the evening, it was time for her to go home so she banked the coals in the grate and turned off all the lights.

One hour later, she opened the door to the cottage and wordlessly got her blanket from underneath the bed. Groaning with exhaustion, she unrolled it next to the fireplace and lay on it sound asleep without taking off her thin-soled shoes. The girls motioned to each other to be quiet as they made their own "beds" and also went to sleep. With no hope for having food their father being alive the next morning, the family slept.

The next morning, Abby woke up with a decision to ask Professor Kirke if Ivy could also be hired to help her. She could not work that hard for long without it taking a toll on her. Ivy agreed to it because it was better than staying home and watching her father slowly die. They set out together in the chilly late spring morning air. The big house loomed ahead in the fog.


	3. Chapter 3

Things look up

Professor Kirke was only too happy to take on Ivy, especially since he was going to be needing extra help in a little while. Four children from London were coming to stay for the summer to avoid the bombing raids by the Germans. Ivy started work that very day by preparing rooms for the children to stay in. At the end of the day, she helped her mother lock up and they went home. When they got there, they found that Mrs. McInnis had brought over some fresh fish for dinner.

Father seemed better, but they knew that it was only the calm before the storm because the heat of summer was just around the corner. That week, Abby brought Betty to work with her and Ivy leaving instructions for Margaret to run to Mrs. McInnis' in case anything happened. At the end of the week, they got their salaries and Ivy went as soon as she could to the nearest village to buy medicine for her father and food for them all. After that, Father got progressively better and on every day off his wife walked to the village for groceries. She also read books about the house of Professor Kirke in the library guide books for tourist season was starting and she needed to know a lot to guide tours.

The next week, the first wave of tourists came and Mrs. Macready was kept busy walking up and down. Through it all, she was worried about how she would keep order when the children arrived. You could never know with these city brats. They were not raised the same way that country kids were. Fortunately, Mr. Macready got well enough to stay home alone so Margaret joined her mother and sisters to make more money for them all. While Abby conducted tours, the girls went about their cleaning and cooking duties around the huge house. They all got up before sunrise to leave and got back after dark. It was a better existence than they had had for a long time. During the first week of summer, the Londoners arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

The children

That afternoon, Abby hitched Tiffany the horse to the buggy and rode to the train station to pick up the children. There they were, waiting for her. Two boys and two girls, ranging in age from seven to sixteen. The older two were alright but she did not like the look of the younger boy. He looked as if he was planning trouble.

"Mrs. Macready?" asked the other boy.

"I'm afraid so," she sighed. She looked around for their luggage and her eyes finally rested on the bags they held in their hands. "Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?" _Are city people not supposed to be rich?_ she thought.

"No, ma'am. It's just us," replied the older boy.

The youngest, a girl, nodded to affirm this. Abbey motioned for them to get in the buggy and they all piled in with their things. On the way to the house, Abby informed them about the publicity of the house and to stay out of the way when she was giving a tour. They were mostly quiet but she was sure that they were just planning to make trouble once they got there. She would just have to make sure that they knew she would not tolerate any tomfoolery.

"Professor Kirke is not accustomed to having children in the house," she began as soon as they were there. "And as such, there are a few rules." She drew a deep breath. "There will be no shouting or running. No improper use of the dumbwaiter." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the older girl reach for an expensive bust and she whirled round. "NO TOUCHING OF THE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS!" The girl stopped and dropped her hand ashamedly while Abby finished, "And above all, there will be no disturbing of the professor." Then she showed them their rooms and left them to get ready for bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Summer's end

Surprisingly, the children turned out to be relatively little trouble and even made friends with the Macready girls. However, the fears of Mrs. Macready were realized one afternoon when she heard a loud crash. Rushing to the source of the sound, she found an old suit of armor in pieces on the floor with pieces of glass around it. She knew at once who was responsible when she spotted a cricket ball lying amidst the rubble and she took at once to the professor. He calmly said he would see to them to her furious look.

The next day, Professor Kirke said to her, "I have spoken with the children and I completely understand. Their parents will pay for the window and the armor can be put back together. From now on they will only engage in non-destructive activities. Please carry on with the tours as before. With the exception of the room with the broken things, of course."

It was like this until Mrs. Macready finally took the children back to the train station a month or two later to go to school. After that, the house ceased to be a safe haven anymore. Because of the war, everything was more expensive and it became harder to maintain the house and so Professor Kirke had to sell it and dismiss the Macreadies. Worst of all, Father's health was failing him again. Soon, they were back at the beginning.

One night, Betty lay awake in the darkness between her sisters. She was worried about her whole family and wondered who they could turn to. Just then, she remembered a conversation with one of the girls from London about something called an aslan. Wait, no, it was a person. This Aslan was supposed to be very great and the girl called Lucy had spoken of him like he could do anything.

Because she was at the end of her rope and could not think of anything else, she whispered, "Oh, Aslan, wherever you are, please help us." Then she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

A rude awakening

She woke up in bed of hay to someone shouting, "Up, get up! Wake up, lazy bones!"

Betty opened her eyes and sat up. How in the world had she gotten in a stable? But stable it was. Down a ladder was a row of stalls from which a dozen beautiful horses blinked at her. An impatient groom immediately put a brush in her hand and walked out.

Confused but also practical Betty proceeded to brush all the horses. When the stable hand came back, she finally asked where she was. He rolled his eyes and told her to go clean up because the king was coming to inspect the horses and she would not want to embarrass herself. King? Maybe he could help her family!

_No time to waste!_ She spat on her hands and rubbed her face with them because it was the best she could do. Then she heard voices outside the stable and became suddenly shy of meeting a king so she stepped into the last stall and hid there. The king came in and she knew him because of the big, golden crown on his head. He was followed by a little boy presumably the prince.

"What is this one's name?" he asked.

"Destrier," said the king.

"I like him."

"You can have him," said the king without emotion but while drawing a dagger which only Betty could see from her hiding place. While the little boy admired his new horse, the king advanced on him and Betty realized with horror that he was going to stab the little boy. She rushed out of the stall without thinking, surprising the two royals. The king immediately hid the dagger behind his back. Then the little boy said to her,

"Hello! My name's Caspian. What is your name?"

"Betty," she replied weakly.

"I got a new horse! Let's play with him!"

_Anything to keep the king from harming you_, she thought as she obediently patted the horse's neck. The king did not seem to be keen on doing anything with a witness around so she would stick around as long as she could until somebody else came along.


	7. Chapter 7

The meeting of Aslan

She played with Caspian the rest of the day. In the evening, she returned to the stable to rest. As she dozed off on a pile of hay, it seemed that she was dreaming for a Lion stood in front of her. One word leaped to her mind (not "help") – Aslan. He spoke to her softly.

"You did well, young one. Young Caspian will grow up to be a great king. Now that your task is done, it is time to get back to your own world where your reward is waiting."

Then she woke up. Sunlight shone through the only window in the cottage onto her sleeping father. He looked much better today. The sickly paleness had left his face and he was breathing much more easily. Was it only a coincidence? She looked down and smiled because in her hand was a fistful of hay.

From then on, things got better. Father found a job at a factory and they got nicer things to eat and, eventually, a bigger house. Betty grew up to be a beautiful girl and everyone said that a strange light shone in her face. She married a war veteran and had a son whom named (oddly enough, everyone thought) Caspian. Her sisters also got married and had children of their own. Her sisters also got married and had children of their own.

Betty always kept up a correspondence with Lucy from London who had first spoken to her about Aslan. Then one day she read in the newspaper that Lucy had died in a train accident with her brothers and parents. She mourned for her friend and when she had a daughter she named her after Lucy. Her children grew up and she herself became old and at the time of her death, she had come to know Aslan in this world. Mother had thought that those children from London would be nothing but trouble. Instead, they had led her to the ultimate truth.


End file.
